This is part two of a two part blog post detailing the platform we chose to use in our social networking site. Previously, I outlined the reasons why we chose the Boonex Dolphin script to be the foundation of our social network. Now we will look at some of the frustrations in using the Dolphin platform.
Any good social networking site must get a few things right to have any chance of succeeding in today’s competitive environment. It needs to be useful for members, it needs to be easy to use, it needs to have good performance, and it should look decent. Unfortunately, Dolphin isn’t a total success in any of these requirements as we will see as we go through the features. While I can’t say it’s a total failure, there’s a lot of room for improvement.
People join a social network to connect to other people on-line. A good social network fosters this by giving people the tools needed to make such connections. For instance, profile comments are a popular way people communicate with each other. Dolphin’s profile comments, while decent, has a few frustrating aspects to it. One, it orders it by latest comments at the end. That means if users want to see the newest comment, they must scroll all the way to the bottom. Myspace puts the newest comments at the top. Two, currently there is no notification available when a user comments on another user’s profile. Three, users are not allowed to restrict who can comment on their profile. There should be a feature to only allow comments by friends. There are more frustrations in this feature, but we get the idea.
Dolphin’s other big avenue of communication is the blog system. If anything could be said about this, it’s that it is a basic blog system. Users can create blog category, add blog entries, and other users can add comments. Compared to a system like WordPress, Dolphin’s blog system is lacking. Certainly, it’s not reasonable to ask for it to compete with the top stand-alone system available, but Boonex would better serve the community by adding just a few more features. Why not allow a blog post to be in multiple categories? A basic blog-roll or at least a link to the user’s friend’s blogs would be nice. The tags system doesn’t work right because the tags are separated by spaces. So the tag “New York” becomes “New” and “York” which doesn’t capture the right sentiment. The blogs do not use friendly urls. We could go on. The Dolphin blog does what it needs to do and not much more.
Most social networks include a forum or message board and Dolphin includes a forum system written by Boonex called Orca. Sadly, this is one of the least usable and poorly implemented forum systems around. It uses AJAX in a way that frustrates users. The back button, for instance, sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Often the layout of the forum is broken perhaps due to not making proper consideration of the different browsers. I’ve had situations in which I clicked on a forum folder or topic and it didn’t go anywhere. the forum itself is very basic, lacking many features found in even basic forums such as phpBB 2. Additionally, it uses a lot of resources for the basic things it does. In fact, the forum system is so poor, there are efforts by third parties to remove it entirely. Overall, the Orca forum is the poorest aspect of Dolphin.
Many social networks today allow users to upload photos, videos, and music. Dolphin allows all of these features using a suite of Flash applications called Ray. As is typical with other Boonex products, Ray has many of the features we want in a media manager application, but it falls short on execution. The stability of the applications are sporadic. Sometimes files would load and sometimes they would not load. On a server I tested, a music file was properly uploaded by it played back at twice as fast as it should have played making the singer sound like a chipmunk. The video files are often not compressed optimally. Unfortunately, there is no way to categorize music and videos and while the uploaded content can be rated, it can only be done anonymously and not by members. Again, many frustrating aspect to what could be a good media management system.
Dolphin uses a CSS based template system that allows modifications to the color scheme and some layout formatting. But one of the big problems with the system is that a lot of the templating or html code is mixed with the functional code. That means there are sections in which the html code cannot be modified unless the core php files are touched. Boonex did not do a very good job of separating the presentation from the core logic.
There are a couple of additional complaints about Dolphin. One is that it seems to use a lot of resources and users have complained of slow performance even when there are not many on-line at the same time. A second complaint is that the permissions system and visibility options are poorly planned or executed. There’s no way to for users to hide profiles from unwanted visitors. And when a profile is suspended, it still shows up in several places. Dolphin 6.0x is full of little bugs like this and it is therefore why we continue to put “BETA” on our site. Until Boonex fixes many of these issues, it will really limit the success of any website using the Dolphin platform. The script does have many features people want in a social network, but it’s only about 70-80% of where it needs to be to be a successful solution. Hopefully, Boonex continues to work at it and to focus on the right places for improvements. Hopefully, instead of trying to add more features in future releases, they will concentrate on making the features they currently have work well. If and when they do that, I would finally be able to give an unequivocal recommendation for the Dolphin product. Until then, I would say Dolphin is a decent social networking script, but be ready for some frustration if you choose to use it now.

In the previous posts, we’ve discussed various aspects of social networking, including general thoughts about social networking, goals for running a social network, and what platform choices are available to creating and maintaining an S/N site. Now I’m going to be specific and review the platform of choice for building our social network. For the first part, I’ll mention the positive aspects of the platform we’re using and later, I’ll mention the negative aspects. There’s plenty of things to mention in both parts so reading part one is long enough for one sitting.

As already discussed before on this blog, some of the options available for building a social network had been outlined. After researching the different packages, the Dolphin platform by Boonex came out on top. This decision was made for several reasons. First, while the preferable method of building a social network is to code everything in-house, it would be too time-consuming and expensive to do so. Social networks are booming, with new ones trying to attract users every day. Certainly, we can spend a lot of money and a year to build up all the features users expect but companies such as Boonex have already provided much of this functionality in their software. So pre-built software was our best option. The wheel is there. No reason to make another one.

But why Dolphin in particular? In looking at some of the currently available pre-built packages, it turns out that Dolphin actually has most of the features currently popular in social networks. For user-centric features, Dolphin has profiles with custom defined fields, user blogs, profile comments, user private messaging, buddy lists, some profile page customization, and a profile picture gallery. For community oriented features, Dolphin has Myspace-like groups, a forum, Classifieds, an Events announcement system, a global shoutbox, and global polls. For community sharing features, Dolphin allows users to upload videos, photos, and music and has a ratings system for each of these elements, though the rating system could use much improvement. So from a features perspective, Dolphin is fairly robust. They basically have all the features expected in a social network, although some are not as well implemented or fully implemented as the current best-of-class counterparts.

In terms of costs, Dolphin is free with an advertisement-based install or $40 to have the advertisements omitted. So price certainly was a factor. Comparing Dolphin to some of the more popular social networking scripts such as phpFox and BuddyZone reveals that Dolphin is behind in some aspects and ahead in other aspects. So it certainly can contend against these $300 plus packages. Had Dolphin been lacking some large features, we probably would not have used it even if it were given free with no obligations. Its rivals in the free or inexpensive social networks arena include phpIzabi and Around Me by Barnraiser, both of which currently fall behind in terms of features. The main problem with Dolphin 6 is that while many of the large expected features have been implemented, they often lack polish and full functionality. For instance, Dolphin has a blog system, but it lacks things like the ability to save posts without publishing, the ability to customize the look of the blog, and the ability to set the blog posts under multiple categories..

While not everything is fully baked, what is positive about Dolphin is that the developers at Boonex continue to improve the software at a rapid pace, at least compared to other software in the same category. They have plans to release a new version with additional features about every six months while releasing bug-fix versions in the interim. This is important, because as we will talk about a little later, the Dolphin software still has much room for improvement. Having had past experiences with web scripts such as phpBB and Joomla, we have gotten used to many months and even years between major releases sometimes because the team behind the project de-prioritize it for stretches of time. We don’t see that in Boonex at the moment. One thing to note is that the Boonex developer support is not very good, or we could say they’re even pretty bad. Go to their forum and you will see many unanswered questions or questions answered by the community itself. While this certainly isn’t positive, people who understand php will have fewer issues as they can help themselves.

For our social network, we know that Dolphin will not provide all the features we want, partly because our S/N site has a specific focus and Dolphin is a general purpose S/N script and partly because Dolphin doesn’t have even some common S/N features implemented. But two things work for it. First, the code is all open and available to modify. Nothing is obfuscated. After working with the code behind Dolphin, I have been able to add many of the features we want to add for our site within the framework. Once Dolphin’s architecture was understood, extending it was not a difficult task. Although I don’t agree with some programming approaches taken by the Boonex team, in general, Dolphin is easy to extend, which is another plus.

Next time, God willing, we will focus on the negative aspects of Dolphin, what needs to be improved and what we are doing to address Dolphin’s issues.

The foundation of any social network website is the software the operates the site. Once the goals of the social network are in place, the most important decision to be made is choosing the platform for which will become the building blocks of the site. It’s important because once a platform is chosen, it will likely have to be used for the entirety of the site’s life. That means that any deficiencies and limitations inherint to the platform will permanently be an issue for the site. While it is possible to switch platforms after the site goes live, there are great risked involved in do this. So let’s look broadly at the choices one has to build a social network.

The most expensive, but ultimately best way to start a social network site is to build it from scratch. All of the large sites such as Myspace and Facebook had been built using proprietary software that was internally developed. Creating one’s own software gives the site owners complete control over what features it will have and how it can be implemented. The biggest issue with “building from scratch” is that it must be made by very competent programmers. The architectural decisions early on will end up determining the site’s scalability as well as limitations. Of course, good software architectures come at a premium and the site will take much longer to develop from scratch than from pre-existing platforms so these also are considerations.

One step up from developing from scratch is to use a simple pre-existing system such as a forum and build it out to be a social network. Most forums are already set up similarly to social networking systems but just need additional features such as enhanced profile pages, global messaging systems, and multimedia repositories. There are many forum scripts available such as vBulletin and phpBB which can be adapted to become a social networking platform. One has to evaluate the limitations of such scripts against the desired features of the social network and decide how much work will it take to add such features. Because forums are structured similarly to a social network, building an S/N site by modifying a forum script will likely save about half or more of the time it would have taken to build one from scratch.

A step even higher than using a forum script to to create an S/N platform using a Content Management System (CMS) such as Drupal or Joomla. These CMS’s are designed as platforms to create general websites but because social networking has gained in popularity, many developers have created social networking “add-on” plug-ins such as profile pages, a messaging system, an album gallery, a forum, etc. By combining different plug-ins and customizing features as needed, a full fledged S/N site can be potentially built in less time than it takes to modify a forum system. The caveat here is that the site owner must live with not only the limitation inherent to the CMS, but also live with the limitations of the whichever plug-ins are available. Or one could custom build their own plug-ins.

The platform choice with the least amount of labor involved is the pre-built social network system. Due to the popularity of social networks, many new S/N scripts have been popping up on the web. Popular scripts include phpFox, Handshakes, Buddyzone, and others. These are dedicated S/N scripts that the site owner can upload and use within minutes of purchase. Because S/N scripts are still new to the marketplace, there isn’t any one script that has stood head and shoulders above the rest at this moment. Therefore, the best way to know the scripts is to test them out. Go to their respective websites and use the demos provided. Also, visit webmaster forums and read what people have to say about these scripts. Until a dominant and respected player emerges, it’s difficult to recommend a script at the moment.

Finally, one alternative that might appeal to a limited number of people is the hosted social network. Sites such as Ning.com allow people to set up a social network hosted by Ning. They manage the software and the user simply customizes a few things and starts finding members to join. Unfortunately, there are many limitations to this approach, the main one being Ning is the real owner of “your” site. This really isn’t much different from starting a Yahoo group, actually. It’s a good way to gather a group of like-minded people but not a good way to run a social network.

This is just an overview of the different options available to create a social network. Next time, God willing, we’ll look at the platform we chose and get into some detail about why we chose it and what limitations and work lie ahead in bringing the platform to the level we need it to be to be used on our site.

Anyone who has been around the Internet over the last few years almost cannot help but stumble upon a social networking site such as Myspace or Facebook or LinkedIn. They all have some common elements but also have different features and even different foci. So we ask, what is a social network (S/N) site? What differentiates an S/N site from other user-centric websites? Let’s take a look.

When the World Wide Web began to rise in popularity in the 90’s, virtually all websites were webmaster driven. That is to say, the content went one way, from the site creator to the reader. The web was mainly an informational portal, with rudimentry feedback mechanisms. But as the Internet increased in popularity, people became more comfortable with the idea that they can not only be a reader of content on the web but also a contributer. And so rose interactive elements of the web such as chatrooms, forums, dating sites, blogs and media uploading sites. People signed up to forums that interested them, created their own blog on Blogger.com, searched for a partner on Match.com and uploaded pictures to Photobucket.

Then someone or some people had the clever idea of consoloating these various elements into one site. And so was born sites such as Friendster and Myspace. In reality, social networking sites brought nothing new to the Internet. They just brought what existed together. Myspace is nothing more than a personal website repository with pre-made functionality, namely profile pages, blogs, forums, and media uploading. The beauty of a social network is that it gives people an easy way to have their own web space.

But there’s one feature in S/N sites that define it. That’s the networking. Now that people have their own web space, they want to tell their friends about it. And so a good S/N site is one that connects people, whether they already knew each other in real life, or they found each other on-line through discovering mutual interests or just serendipitously connecting. And that is what truly drives the social network. Connecting people’s “personal websites”. It’s such a simple idea yet so powerful.

For our social network that we are building, we are keeping these two elements in mind. What features would people like to have to be able to express themselves? Profile pages definitely. Blogs, yes. Uploading photos, yes. Uploading videos, maybe. Forums and groups, no doubt. Secondly, how can people connect with other people? Friends lists, links to their profile in every posting they make, search by interests, commenting on others’ postings, etc. So for others who may be interested in building a social networking site, be sure to focus much of the attention to these lynchpins of a social network. Personal experession and connecting, the pillars of social networking.

As the first post of this journal, we can start by asking “why”? Why build a new social network when there are hundreds, if not thousands of social networking (S/N) sites floating around the Internet? Why not stop now while we’re ahead? What will this new site have to offer that the other big sites don’t offer? Fair questions.

Let’s start by saying, the new social networking in the works, we’ll call it SocialX, isn’t out to overthrow Myspace, Facebook, or the gamut of successful social networks out there. We’ll probably be small and stay small, but it’s by design. Now, you’re probably laughing and saying, “Design? No, not design, but reality.” Well, you’re right, we probably won’t be that big even if we intended to be big. But when I say by design, I mean, SocialX is meant to target a specific audience. It’s a niche social network.

But it’s because sites such as Myspace and Facebook can’t really cater to niches that a targeted social network can work. If we were trying to make a general purpose S/N site, that’s a tough hill to climb since the established sites do what they do quite well. And there are many of them. Some people don’t like Myspace so there’s Facebook. Some don’t like Facebook so there’s Friendster…and Orkut…and Bebo…and LinkedIn…and on and on. They’re all general purpose sites and it’s likely that anyone interested in S/N’ing will find one that fits them among the top sites.

But niche sites are not so common. Give me some examples of what’s considered niche, you might say. Sure. What about a social network for sports lovers? Or a social network for car aficianados? Or a social network for movie buffs? Plenty of niches out there. The big sites can’t really cater to people with special interests the way a niche site can, nor should the big sites even try. That’s by design. Ah, that word again. So what do I mean?

When you create a profile on Myspace, you list a few things about yourself by answering some questions. The profile form is pretty generic. Your interests, a favorite saying, a physical description, etc. Boring. Unless I know you, I don’t care about that stuff. But what if you’re a movie buff and you found a social network for people like you, let’s call it SocialM. On the join page, it asks for a few boring details about yourself but it also asks things like, top 5 favorite movies, favorite movie line, best movie people haven’t seen, favorite movie genre, etc. Now when you browse your profile and other people’s profiles, you can see their top 5 movies and favorite movie quotes. Not only that, but if the S/N site is good, it can aggregate everyone’s results and have an overall top 5 movies for the site. In addition, if the site is really good, it can match you with others who share a similar tastes in movies–”Sarah shares the same top 5 as you. Would you like to meet Sarah?” Yes.

Now isn’t that something? When you browse other people’s profiles, they actually have things to say that might interest you. So you’re not just browsing to see all the barely dressed girls and drunk pictures on their profile. You can actually meet people who like what you like. And that’s because you’re on a well done niche site that sets all it’s features to cater to that niche.

So that’s what SocialX intends to do. The niche it’s targeting isn’t movies but the ideas are similar. Build a site where users of our niche can fill in information focused on the niche topic. Then connect with others who share similar interests. After all, isn’t that what social networking is about anyway?